Oliver Glasner has announced his first Nottingham Forest lineup for a competitive fixture at the City Ground, marking the start of a new chapter for the club.
The Austrian takes charge of his opening Premier League match on home soil this Saturday afternoon as Forest welcome Leeds United to town. Having struggled through a campaign last season that brought relegation concerns, the Midlands club are now aiming to challenge near the summit of the division under their new leadership.
Pre-season proved invaluable for Glasner following his arrival as Vitor Pereira’s successor last month. He managed to build familiarity with his squad and communicate his tactical philosophy during that period. The club are hoping all the preparation completed over the summer will now translate into positive results. Getting off to a strong start in the 2026/27 season is the objective, though Glasner acknowledges the squad will need time to reach their full potential.
Utilising a three-man defence has become a hallmark of the former Crystal Palace manager’s approach, and he has selected that system once again this weekend. There are no places in the starting eleven for recent recruits Ousmane Diomande and Xaver Schlager, who both take seats among the substitutes. Jair Cunha has been chosen ahead of Diomande to occupy one of the defensive roles. He partners Nikola Milenkovic and Murillo in front of goalkeeper Matz Sels.
Ola Aina and Neco Williams will operate as the wide players in the formation. In the centre of the park, James McAtee gets the preference over Schlager to accompany Ibrahim Sangare. Dan Ndoye and Morgan Gibbs-White will offer creativity and threat in support of striker Igor Jesus. The replacements are John Victor, Diomande, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Nicolas Dominguez, Chris Wood, Arnaud Kalimuendo, Schlager, Luca Netz and Zach Abbott.
Forest: Sels; Jair, Milenkovic, Murillo; Aina, Sangare, McAtee, Williams; Ndoye, Gibbs-White; Jesus. Subs: John, Diomande, Hudson-Odoi, Dominguez, Wood, Kalimuendo, Schlager, Netz, Abbott.